Basic English Syntax with Exercises

preposing

3.2.2 D-structure and S-structure

In (60a) the PP in the park is an adjunct to the VP, modifying the VP by adding information about where the meeting took place. In (60b) the PP has moved to the front of the sentence, in a similar way to that in which topics are moved to the front. We can call this movement preposing. Before the preposing takes place, the PP is in its VP adjoined position:

3.2.3 Traces

There is one more point we need to make in connection with positions involved in movement. Above we said that the landing site for a moved object in a passive structure is an empty position: the subject. This seems to make sense given that the subject position is an integral part of the sentence, without which we would not have a complete sentence. However, it is not always easy to identify a landing site as something that exists before the movement takes place. For example, consider the case of PP preposing, in which a PP is moved to the front of the clause:

3.2.3 Traces

Furthermore, this position has a number of things in common with an adjunct, in that an unlimited number of elements can undergo preposing:

3.2.3 Traces

Because of examples such as these it has been proposed that there are two types of movement. One, known as substitution, moves an element into a vacant position. The other, called adjunction, creates an adjunction structure by the movement. Thus, PP preposing might be argued to move the PP to a position adjoined to the left of the clause: